Wenger laments missed opportunities to sign Drogba and Ronaldo for Gunners

Didier Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo

Arsene Wenger has spoken about how close he was to signing Didier Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo before they became stars at other clubs.

During the fallow years at Arsenal prior to last year's FA Cup win, the pair were two of the brightest lights in the Premier League with Chelsea and Manchester United respectively.

Both were also directly responsible for blocking the Frenchman's path to silverwear, winning Premier Leagues and Champions Leagues with the Gunners' rivals, as Arsenal fans could only watch on in envy.

The Ivorian, in particular, has made Wenger regret not signing him nearly every time he has faced Arsenal for either Chelsea or Galatasary - scoring 15 goals in 15 games against the Gunners in his career to date.

Speaking of the Chelsea striker at a recent sponsor question and answer session, the Arsenal manager said as much.

He said: "I would have loved to have managed Didier Drogba, for two reasons.

"One, I missed him when he played at Le Mans in France, not even in the top league. I knew there was a good player there and I missed him.

"And secondly, because he hurt us so much in big games that all this pain would not have happened."

But the Gunners manager, who has been at the club for 18 years, said that his biggest regret was not convincing World Player of the Year Ronaldo to sign for Arsenal instead of Manchester United.

"My biggest regret? I was so close to signing Cristiano Ronaldo. And not only did I not get him, but he signed for Manchester United.

"That, of course, still hurts today."

Previously, the manager has spoken about how he was close to signing the likes of Yaya Toure and Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Arsenal, with both having trials at Arsenal as young players.